I have had numerous email
communications with Shigeki Yamamoto, the founder and inventor of Yamamoto Sound
Craft Corporation products. Having previously reviewed his audio bases/isolation
devices I must say that I was overwhelmed at the positive impact they had on my
audio system. When he told me about his wish to create a DA Converter my
interest immediately perked up. Shigeki Yamamoto asked me if I could rearrange
me review schedule to include his DA Converter in order to give it more
immediate exposure, as he brought it to market slightly ahead of schedule. With
perfect timing it comes ready so the holiday shoppers can add it to their list
of audio "toys" for December. Of course I readily agreed as I was honored to
have the opportunity to experience his new DA Converter, the YDA-01.

Yamamoto-San's factory is in Ono-city, within the Hyogo
Prefecture, on Japan's Honshu or Main Island. Honshu is divided into five
regions, one of which is Kansai, where the Hyogo Prefecture and Ono-city are
located. Ono-city has an estimated population of only 50410 people. For those
interested in golf, I am told that the Ono Golf Club is a difficult course to
play, with its nice rolling terrains, beautiful greens and numerous ponds.
Perhaps it is this tranquil small country setting that has helped inspire
Yamamoto-San's use of natural woods, tube amplifiers and hand crafted products.

Now
On To Something New And ExcitingYamamoto Sound Craft makes phono cartridges,
head shells for those cartridges, a step up transformer; a phono equalizer
amplifier plus a whole lot more. As you can tell Yamamoto-San is a true believer
in the joys of vinyl. This however is the company's very first exploration into
the world of CD playback systems with the introduction of their YDA-01 DA
Converter. Looking to their website you will also notice they make exquisite
tube amplifiers and preamplifiers, all of which are supplied with very
attractive wood enclosures. Vinyl and tubes, it does not get much better than
that. However, feeling that CD playback systems are the mainstay for most
audiophiles today, Yamamoto-San wanted to contribute to the further advancement
of this ever-growing popular medium. Shigeki Yamamoto is of the belief that CD
players generally have a tendency to sound hard and lacking in what he refers to
as grace. Gathering together his fifteen plus years of experience with designing
tube amplifiers he decided that he was up to the challenge. Yamamoto-San
approached the production of DA Converters with the philosophy that a simpler
design would lend itself to a more natural and pleasant listening experience.
Therefore his DA Converter incorporates an output stage with only one single
transistor and no negative feedback.

Originally
he was going to go with the idea of putting tubes into the equation but decided
that this would make things to complex and so for the moment has put that aside
in order to keep the circuitry simple. The YDA-01 uses a CS8416 digital
processor on the input, which then goes through two PCM1794A chips, in a dual
mono design, into the emitter of a single PNP transistor. Normally the output
from the PCM1794 DAC chips would go through a complex filtering or
"Analog" circuitry so that all digital artifacts are removed. His
approach is done with the belief that this simplicity of design allows the music
to sound more "alive" and natural.

Borrowing from his many years of successful amplifier designs
is the belief that a good strong power supply will yield a powerful sound with
great bass impact. He holds that the same is true no matter what the audio
apparatus and has incorporated this design philosophy into his new DAC. Looking
inside the YDA-01 you see a custom Yamamoto transformer which helps provide the
YDA-01 with its strong bass extension and dynamic swing. Appearance wise the
front panel is very clean with only an on/off switch while the rear of the unit
has a digital input and two RCA outputs as well as an IEC connector for those of
use who love to play with power cords. The fuse is nicely hidden just above this
connector and tucked neatly out of the way. You will immediately notice that
there are no balanced connections, which was purposely done in an effort to keep
the product affordable. The wood trim on both sides of this product is made from
Japanese Cherry wood. The use of wood is a common reoccurrence seen throughout
the Yamamoto Sound Craft line, which it looks and feels magnificent. If you like
wood products please take a moment to look at their wooden audio racks, speaker
stands and horn enclosures, as they are certainly beautiful to behold.

The
Setup

Initially
two players were used as transports. These were both the Sony DVP-S7700 (DVD/CD
player) and the Samsung HD-841 (Universal DVD/CD player). Digital cables were
the Canare Digiflex Gold, Monarchy Audio DR-1, as well as one single and one
triple shielded digital Anti-cable. I tried both players as transports using
each of the four cables until I finally selected a pair to use in combination
for this review. In my system I felt the Samsung player with the Digiflex Gold
cable worked just slightly better with the Yamamoto YDA-01 DAC and used this
combination for the review. It was however very close as all the cables and both
transports were a great matchup with the YDA-01, which seemed at home with
either combination.

For power cords I substituted a Monarchy Audio AC-1 in place
of the stock cord. Connecting the YDA-01 to the preamplifier were PS Audio
Transcendence Silver interconnects. This DAC was never finicky or demanding as
to which digital cable, interconnect, transport or power cord was necessary in
order to sound its best. Talking to Brian Bowdle of Venus HiFi, Yamamoto's North
American Importer, he recommended I try the YDA-01 with an inexpensive
transport, as that is really all it needs. The funny thing is that I had already
discovered that on my own and therefore agreed with him. It is not necessary to
find a transport costing as much as a good used car to pair with this DAC to
produce great digital sound. I did however place underneath the transport some
Yamamoto audio bases that I have found to make excellent isolation devices. The
YDA-01 itself comes with its own African Ebony footers (just like Yamamoto's
amps), which is made from the same wood as many of the Yamamoto audio bases. One
more note is that I had on hand a Philips DVD 9000S DVD video/SACD player. This
Philips player was on loan to me from CC Poon of Monarchy Audio who bought this
unit in Hong Kong, as it is not available for the United States market. The
Philips was close to stock with the only change being a huge upgraded Jensen
capacitor at the AC input that Mr. Poon himself installed. I thoroughly enjoyed
this new addition to my system and was considering making a purchase until I
heard the more expensive Yamamoto YDA-01. This DAC took my digital playback to a
higher level and won me over, the details of which I would now like to share
with you.

Musical
Selections

Being that the holiday season is upon us I
decided to start out with one of my favorite CD's, Yo-Yo Ma & Friends Songs
of Joy & Peace [Sony Classical 88697-24414-2]. Of particular
merit I found is the song, "Familia", performed by Yo-Yo Ma with the
accompaniment of the Assad family. For those of you not familiar with the Assads
let me provide a little background information. Sérgio and Odair Assad are two
Brazilian-born brothers of whom the Washington Post has one time described as "the
best two-guitar team in existence, maybe in history." Not to be outdone the rest
of the family are accomplished singers in their own right.

The Assad family provides us with three generations of musical
heritage as mother sings along with her three grandchildren, two girls and one
boy. These three are the children of Sérgio and Odair Assad. As a side note
their father Jorge also performs with them on mandolin but he did not play on
this particular song. One of the reasons I choose listening to Yo-Yo Ma is that
the cello is a unique instrument capable of producing deep warm tones, which
some feel to be the most expressive instrument within the orchestra. In 1529 a
three-stringed instrument (now of course four-stringed) was made that later was
deemed the "violincello" which in Italian means "small double bass". About fifty
years later this was shortened to what we now call the cello. Beethoven wrote
five sonatas for the cello and perhaps had he heard Yo-Yo Ma perform he would
have created more for this modern day master cellist. Listening to "Familia" the
YDA-01 clearly places the opening voices of three singers, one at a time as they
start singing, first left then right and finally dead center in-between the
loudspeakers. I had to stop for a moment checking to see if I had a third
loudspeaker somewhere hidden in-between my Legacy Focus 20/20's as the third
singers voice was so evident. The five total singers voices are layered quite
nicely with each performer distinctly heard within the soundstage. Yo-Yo Ma's
cello sounded both detailed and delicate while the YDA-01 allowed you to feel
the strings vibrate as the bow glides across them.

Another treat on this CD is the singing voice of James Taylor,
a long-time favorite of mine. His voice brings such warmth to his songs that I
thoroughly enjoy his performances no matter what he is singing. Here playing
with Yo-Yo Ma, together they do a rendition of "Here Comes the Sun", a classic
George Harrison piece, which throws out a wide soundstage extending beyond the
loudspeakers. The vocal presentation is strong as even the smallest resonance in
his voice can be heard quite clearly. There are five background singers
accompanying him and the YDA-01 has no trouble differentiating and pinpointed
them all clearly in front of us. This DAC has the ability to create space around
instruments and vocals that rival some of the best out there.

Moving onto one more song from this album I would like to
mention "Invitación al Danzón" performed by Paquito D'Rivera on clarinet. He
was a child prodigy born in Cuba playing both the saxophone and clarinet for the
Cuban National Symphony Orchestra. With him on this song is the Israeli pianist
AlonYavnai. Mr. Yavnai began his journey with the piano at ago four and was
playing professionally by age fourteen. Within the song we hear the clarinet
floating musical notes lightly before us as AlonYavnai's quick yet distinct
piano keys are can be heard playing in the background. TheYDA-01 gave me a
feeling of tonal and harmonic accuracy with its reproduction of Paquito D'Rivera's
clarinet. As for Yo-Yo Ma the timbre and tone quality of his cello is clear and
the resonance from his cello can be distinctly heard. The YDA-01 has this
ability to separate individual performers within songs, whether they are two,
three, five or more playing together. I found this time and again no matter what
music I threw at this DAC. It was quite apparent that it was at ease with
handling the music's inner resolution. The YDA-O1 enhanced my listening pleasure
by bringing familiar songs to new uncharted levels that I had not previously
enjoyed before. As I rediscover old familiar songs I now found them once again
to be new and exciting. One note about this CD is that there are many more fine
musicians performing within it and Songs of Joy & Peace now has been
put on my favorites list for use in future reviews.

Moving on now to Buddy Guy's CD Skin
Deep [Silvertone 88697-31629-2], I was quite impressed with the song "Every
Time I Sing The Blues". Here we have Buddy Guy and Eric Clapton on guitar and
vocals. The recorded performance was astounding and the YDA-01 did its best to
let you hear it all. Taking a line from the song, "Just trying to tell the truth
every time I sing the Blues" is reminiscent of the way I felt about this DAC's
presentation of music. It did not over romanticize things nor did it place any
unnatural emphasis on any part of the musical spectrum. It was quite balanced,
neutral and very dynamic. Playing music loudly with the YDA-01 was a joy and
even at levels that were nearing the threshold of being uncomfortable, still
sounded excellent. Being one not to risk damaging my ears, there is a point that
I always turn the music down. Hopefully you will also so that many years from
now you can continue to "enjoy the music". Not to be outdone the song "Skin Deep",
from the same CD, features the work of guitarist Derek Trucks and a host of
others. Yamamoto-San's DAC brought out the unique character of Buddy Guy's voice
giving an earthy blues presentation to his songs. Once again the layering effect
of background vocals, Buddy Guy's singing and guitar work, as well as the rest
of the band playing was a pleasure to hear. No matter what I fed the YDA-01 it
never got confused or congested.

In order to test this a little further I threw on Stevie Ray
Vaughan & Double Trouble's The Real Deal:
Greatest Hits Volume 2 CD [Epic/Legacy 88697 22629 2]. Listening to
Stevie Ray Vaughan's lightening fast guitar playing on the song, "Scuttle Buttin"
I was amazed with the YDA-01's ability to not miss a beat and give a lifelike
feeling to this all to brief yet incredible set. That and the fast paced "Love
Struck Baby" which can sound lacking in energy with the wrong setup made me want
to get up off my favorite chair to dance. When I am driven to stand and deliver
that speaks volumes about a product. I would also like to mention its ability to
produce deep resounding bass wherever it found it. Never did bass sound
overemphasized but instead live and natural.

In
Steps... A Pair Of SET AmplifiersAnd the magic continues

I
wish I had in my possession any one of Yamamoto's tube amplifiers with which to
test the YDA-01. Lacking that I do however have a very good sounding pair of
Dignity Audio DA-08SE SET mono block tube amplifiers. This pair produces 8-watts
of SET magic while using one 300B and one 6SN7 tube for each amplifier. The mono
blocks come with their own gain control that I set to twelve o'clock while
leaving further adjustments of volume to my Placette Passive preamplifier. This
setup afforded me the luxury of using the Placette's remote control unit so I
could be lazy and not have to move from my listening position except to change
CD's. It was now time to listen to both male and female vocals with the YDA-01
paired to tube amplifiers. Earlier I had been using two solid-state Monarchy
Audio SM-70 Pro amplifiers (set for use in mono operation) for this review. In
order to be fair I replaced my Legacy Focus 20/20 loudspeakers with a pair of
1989 vintage Klipsch Klipschorn loudspeakers (unmodified). The Klipsch have a
sensitivity of 104dB/W/m and are easily driven by the 8-watt SET amplifiers
while driving them with my Legacy Focus loudspeakers would prove to be a little
more difficult.

Diana Krall's, The Look Of
Love [Verve 314 549 846-2], CD with the opening song "S'Wonderful"
threw an expansive deep soundstage that immediately caught my attention. There
seemed to be a little extra space surrounding instruments and vocals alike then
I had heard with my solid-state amplifiers. Diana Krall's voice was very alive
and the overall effect of the combination of tube and DAC can best be described
as smooth. It was missing some of the bass impact but not too much. Diana Krall's
voice on "Cry Me a River" was so clear and real it was startling. "The Look of
Love" came across as sultry and seductive, as it should, with an extra bit of
breath in her voice that was quite pleasant.

Lastly I listened to James Taylor's Covers
CD [Hear Music HRM-30829-02] where he records songs that were written
by various artists. Hearing him sing "Suzanne", a classic Leonard Cohen piece, I
was taken by the YDA-01's ability to handle the decay of notes as well as
bringing a great holographic image to the song. The slides from his guitar were
evident, as they should be, yet not shrill or annoying. James Taylor also sings
a rendition of George Benson's, "On Broadway". I had heard George Benson perform
live many l years ago in both New York City and one evening in Boulder Colorado.
Upon hearing the background vocals with "On Broadway" I was amazed at how well
the YDA-01 kept them distant yet oh so clear. This song truly produced a "Wow"
moment for me.

For
the Do-It-Yourselfers

There is a kit version on the horizon that
will be made for people with the ability to assemble it themselves. Yamamoto-San
wanted to provide the kit so that people can feel the joy associated with making
something on their own. This and the fact that you will be saving a little money
should make the do-it-yourselfers quite happy and I am glad to see a
manufacturer offering two versions like this. The kit will be out sometime in
December or January and have a base price of $1950, which is a savings of $500.
This kit version will probably have one or more options for ICs as well as being
almost completely built as the chassis will be assembled and finished with the
printed circuit boards complete and attached. You still however must do some
point-to-point wiring between the circuit boards, transformer, switch and
terminals. Being that the complicated and precise digital portion of the new
YDA-01 will already be assembled will make the project that much simpler. I was
sent the factory-assembled version for this review, which I believe, is always
better for our purposes here, in order to be fair to the manufacturer. After all
I would not want my clumsy hands getting in the way of a fine review from such a
prestigious manufacturer. Not being an expert at soldering I personally would
buy the ready-made product as I find the factory work to be exemplary.

Summing
It Up

This
was indeed exciting for me as I was treated to something that I was not
completely expecting. The Yamamoto YDA-01 DA Converter took my digital system to
greater heights then I would have imagined at the beginning of this review.
Music played through the YDA-01sounded quite natural and the bass was superb.
First I enjoyed the pleasure of its presence coupled with my solid-state
amplifiers only later to find myself overcome with joy at its pairing with my
mono block SET amplifiers. There are times when I wanted that extra impact which
solid-state amplifiers can impart and other times that I enjoyed what a good SET
tube amplifier can deliver. Either way you decide I doubt you will be
disappointed as the YDA-01 put a smile on my face with either use.

The nice thing about this DAC was the ease at which it took to
matching itself with other gear. It slipped in and out of different systems
while I changed from tube or solid-state amplifiers, used a variety of digital
cables, power cables and loudspeakers and it did so without any fuss. The YDA-01
was comfortable with male or female vocals, Blues, Rock, Classical, Country
Western or whatever music I cared to feed it. This is indeed a user-friendly
product that creates great sounds on the fly with whatever music or equipment
you care to throw at it. There were a few times when I forgot I was playing a CD
and thought I was listening to my turntable, it was that good. Finally I would
like to thank Shigeki Yamamoto for giving me the pleasure of experiencing first
hand what this top quality DAC can do for the enhancement of my CD experience.
He emailed me that almost all of his business comes from Japan while maybe one
one-thousandth of it is U.S. driven. Hopefully this will change as more people
become aware of this man's talent for creating audio products.

My
ratings: Please take into consideration that the equipment under review is being
measured in my room, with my equipment and heard through my ears. As always you
should be the final judge as to what works for you in your environment and
measured against what traits you value most. The following was how I rated the
equipment based on a rating system that does not take in to consideration the
cost of the product, until the very last question, "Value For The Money". Before
that all products are rated against others in its category, regardless of
financial considerations.